How do you feel today? Do you feel happy? Or do you have a gnawing feeling in your gut that signals how much you yearn for more than you have right now?
Practicing gratitude will help you to feed that need in your soul. It is important to strive for more—especially when you are on the road to success—but you have to stop on the path to achievement and be grateful for all of the wonderful things that are part of your life right now. Are you aware of the good things in your life? Some people will never be satisfied until their ultimate goals are achieved, but that kind of tunnel vision robs them of a host of events that happen every day in real time that should be celebrated. They don’t even notice them.
If you are too focused on the finish line, you might miss the best parts of life.
Work on increasing your awareness. Stop reaching for ultimate happiness and concentrate instead on awareness. What do you notice? What surprises you? Be aware of people, places, and things. Pay attention to the mood of your co-worker. Maybe there is something you can do to help them if they’re having a bad day. Take a look at the progress of that construction site near your office. How is it going? Awareness is your assignment today.
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To this point, you have shown your gratitude by writing lists. There are other ways in which you can express gratitude, and John F. Kennedy mentions one very important one in this quote. The highest form of appreciation is to live a life that is full of gratitude. That is even more important than saying thank you or writing down a gratitude list. It is the final step.
How exactly do you live by words of gratitude? It makes sense to say, “I’m grateful for my family.” But how do you live by that? Think about ways you might live your gratitude.
You can start by telling your family members you love them. Here are a few other ideas: hug your kids; call your mother or father just to see how they are doing; complete a chore for your significant other that you know they don’t enjoy, like cleaning out the cat box or straightening up the garage; or drop your over-competitive compulsion to win every time you get together with your brother on the basketball court. All of those things are fairly easy to do, but they put words into action. They show the people in your life that they are important to you, and you love them. Anyone can utter words of gratitude. The words take on greater significance when they become actions.
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Nicole Johnson was crowned Miss America in 1999. If you knew nothing except that one fact about her, what would you assume? She’s probably got a lot going for her—looks, education, a really white smile. She must live a charmed life, don’t you think? It’s hard to be beautiful.
Ms. Johnson also suffers from diabetes. Does that change your image of her?
Her quote here reveals a lot about her character. The tests she has faced so far in life don’t limit her. They are the bricks and mortar that build her testimony. What a unique attitude. She is putting her gratitude into action.
You have two choices when you face difficulties in life. You can learn from them and overcome them, or you can let them limit you. It is completely up to you which route you decide to take.
You are wasting your time if you try to find someone or something to blame for your circumstances. That will provide you with nothing in the way of good materials to build a happy life. Let’s say you’re right. There is someone to blame. Once you put the responsibility on them, what do you have left? You have just given all of your power away.
Let your tests build your testimony. Forge through the difficult times and learn how to conquer your problems without passing the responsibility on to someone else. That will build the story of your life. It can be a heroic tale if you want it to be. You’re the author.
